This is a collection of four short writings including Hell Gate, Wolfert Webber; or, Golden Dreams, Kidd the Pirate, and The Devil and Tom Walker. Hell Gate is "full of fable and romance abounding with traditions about pirates, hobgoblins, and buried money." "A dream three times repeated was never known to lie." –Wolfert Webber; or, Golden Dreams tells you whether a weird dream will come true. Kidd the Pirate will certainly satisfy your curiosity by informing you of how Kidd becomes a pirate, the destiny of this legendary figure and many stories his history gives birth to.According to previous stories, the devil presides at the hiding of Kidd's treasure and takes it under his guardianship. Miserly Tom Walker lives near the place where the treasure is buried. A chance meeting with the devil leads to his taking over of the treasure on certain conditions. What does he promise the devil to do? The Devil and Tom Walker will tell you the very specifics.

华盛顿·欧文短篇小说集（一）——掘金者《鬼门关》描述了一个被称作"鬼门关"的海峡的凶险环境和其名字的由来，整篇文章笼罩着神秘的气氛，扣人心弦，引人入胜。在《沃尔弗特•韦伯或黄金梦》中，主人公连续三天梦见自己挖到黄金，从此无心经营祖传的菜园。最终，菜园荒废，沃尔弗特一家陷入贫困。然而，沃尔弗特却并未从"黄金梦"中醒来。《海盗基德》讲述了主人公基德受政府之托，去剿灭海盗，但自己却沦为了海盗，最终被政府抓获后绞死。但是，他埋藏金银珠宝的故事却给后人留下了无数的猜想。《魔鬼和汤姆•沃克》的主人公汤姆无意中遇到了魔鬼，深得魔鬼喜爱，并得到了一大笔财产，但条件是要终身为魔鬼做事。于是，本来穷困潦倒的汤姆变成了一个无情冷血的高利贷商......